Consultant Team Selection Process
Request for Qualifications and Proposal Objectives:
- Meet RIT community and guests desire for convenient parking
- Create a pedestrian friendly environment
- Develop solutions that can be phased in over a 3 to 5 year period
- Strategy shall favor technology innovations and environmental sustainability in application
- Transportation services should complement parking objectives
RIT Challenges:
- Despite being located on 1300 acres, a considerable amount of the campus cannot be developed due to environmental restrictions. Once the land near center campus has been fully developed, future development will be noncontiguous – likely just north of Bailey Road.
- Demand for parking continues to increase as the faculty, staff and student population continues to increase. Several parking lots are at full capacity. There is a strong desire for convenient and inexpensive parking.
- Parking spaces near center campus have been reallocated to make way for new academic and residential facilities. There is limited land available for additional "convenient" surface parking lots.
- There is a recognized need for providing alternative transportation pathways for bicycles, skateboards, etc. for students living on campus.
- Pathways from parking lots to center campus are not viewed as pedestrian friendly.
- Transportation solutions currently involve large buses that circle the outer loop of the campus. Stops are approximately every 20 minutes. There is a desire for more frequent, convenient and reliable transportation options.
- The population of high school students from the northeastern United States continues to decrease. RIT will need to increase the percentage of students from other parts of the country, namely the warmer South, Southwest and West. RIT desires a campus that will be enticing to students unaccustomed to inclement weather. One area of particular focus is a long walkway known as the Quarter Mile connecting the residence halls on the East side of campus to the academic buildings on the West side of campus
- RIT plans to build an administrative services building and a seven story residential complex in the coming year. The location and footprint for these structures should dovetail with the proposed strategy.
A Request for Qualifications package was sent out in November 2007 to 23 firms and 10 firms responded. A Request for Proposal was sent out in December to five firms. Two firms were interviewed and the Parking Advisory Group selected the national team of:
- Martin Alexiou Bryson (Parking and Transportation) of Raleigh, North Carolina.
- Cooper, Robertson & Partners of New York (Urban Design) was also selected as a sub consultant.
